Markus Söder reelected as Bavarian state premier

Markus Söder was reelected as minister-president of Bavaria on Tuesday, three weeks after his Christian Social Union party lost its absolute majority in the state parliament.

He received support from 110 members of the Bavarian parliament, with 89 voting against and three abstentions, said Handelsblatt.

Bavaria has long been a CSU stronghold but the party was forced to form a coalition with the Free Voters to stay in power, after seeing its support drop by 10 percentage points in the October election.

The disappointing result for the CSU in Bavaria, and a poor showing in an election in Hesse by its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union, were widely seen as paving the way for Angela Merkel's announcement that she will not seek reelection as leader of the CDU in December and will step down as Chancellor in 2021.

The CSU’s leader and current federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had said he will clarify his future after the new regional government takes office on November 12, according to German press agency DPA.